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Already been called on this marketing lie..
http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/soft-drinks/sh ocker-enviga-doesnt-actually-burn-calories-208357. php
This product does not burn calories....

DS cartridge insurance.

I've read articles about salespeople pushing extended warranties on the Tetris DS game card. Could it be because Tetris DS actually is broken, what with the infinite spin rule that takes all the challenge out of single player and the counterintuitive T-spins required for competitive play?

he is 74 years old and extremely ill

Then he can be a Walmart greeter!

> My irregular or perverse browsing habits are but a drop in the statistical pond.

I bet that's what AOL Searcher #4417749 or #927 thought...

Considering the fact that their trashing his name and hanging this debacle on him, it makes sense to get a lawyer. AOL also fired the "retention agent" over that phone call we all heard. Of course he was doing what he was told to do. Scapegoating lower level peons seems to be modus operandi for AOL.

Aside from offering a poor product at a high price, their customer service is frustrating as all get-out. It took me hours and hours to cancel my account in 2003. Their cancellation process is so difficult, it ends up being comparable to theft. For those of you who don't loathe AOL enough, The Consumerist recently posted their customer retention guide. It's an interesting read and shows just how institutionalized their horrible policies are: http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/exclusive/aol- retention-manual-uploaded-in-full-188310.php

I had MAJOR problems with ZipZoomFly when they were still called GoogleGear. I ordered a CPU, it was received damaged, and they absolutely REFUSED to issue me a replacement or a refund, saying >I

I never did get my replacement, and they were absolutely the RUDEST people I've ever dealt with.

In closing, boycott these ripoff artists if you can. Google "googlegear" or zipzoomfly and you'll see LOT'S of complaints.
http://www.google.com/googlegear.html
http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/zip-zoom-fly/
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff134267.h tm
http://shopping.yahoo.com/merchrating/user_rv.html ?merchant_id=1019601

Caveat emptor!

Yup

                    --Michael

This link made front page on digg yesterday:
AOL Wants to Sell "Internet" to the Dead

They refused to cancel the account of her dead mother. Didn't make a big difference since all her credit cards were cancelled, but crazy nonetheless.

Digg mentioned a story about a dead woman and AOL refuses to cancel!

Link to mp3 recording. Putfile's proper site for this requires a proprietary download just to run the file, so have this link instead. They'll probably move it though to make us look at their annoying page.

Rep: I don't know what anybody's done to you...
VF: You're annoying the shit out of me
Rep: Well that goes both ways

Here's link to Vincent's blog. He's been dugg and farked and all the other usuals by now (which is why the file is now on putfile), so be gentle with the poor bastard's bandwidth. He's just come out of a very rough breakup, after all!

Also, this isn't a new tactic at all. That spin isn't in the linked article or anywhere else, so I guess 'Jhon' is to blame.

Opinions on this practice aren't as one-way as you might expect. It's kind of surprising to see a site called 'consumerist.com' reply to

Someone once said "Please cancel my account." I took that at face value and cancelled the account... three weeks later I was fired!

Good. You should have been fired.

...this happens more often than Dell admits.

http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/fuck/myspace-i s-a-loser-so-were-resorting-to-porn-178829.php Space is good, spaces in URL usually are not :) .

Check this out.

http://www.consumerist.com/consumer/irs/breaking-i rs-archive-control-sold-to-lowest-bidder-177771.ph p

Talk about your privacy in jeapordy. How long before these records end up on an insecure server, or off shored to where people don't give a crap and sell the information. Identity theft anyone? How is keeping records secure *not* a core function?

Every day I wake up amazed at the sheer stupitiy around me.

Just don't use Bausch & Lomb MoistureLoc contact solution. It promotes fungal infections of the eye... eww.

No. I've had check cards from various banks over the past 10 or so years - and I've never been charged ATM fees for using the card in debit mode. In fact, if I need cash I'll often just go to Walgreens or some other retailer that gives cash back and buy a pack of gum or something and get cash back, rather than pay a fee to use an ATM. (For those not familiar with cash back, basically the retailer charges the debit card for the purchase plus the amount you want back in cash, and just gives you the cash from the register.)

That said, I will probably start using the card only in credit mode from now on, to avoid being caught up in this PIN hack thing. My guess is given how successful this hack has been (read The Consumerist to see how it has become more and more widespread by the day) there will only be more security breaches of this type. If Walgreens ever gets hacked, I'm screwed because there's one on the first floor of my office building that I visit (and in which I conduct debit transactions) almost daily. The other bonus to signing rather than using your PIN is if you have a rewards check card, you only earn the rewards for signed purchases, not debit transactions.

In fact, you can bribe your senator with an iPod.

Seems that someone noticed that Senators with iPods ask tougher questions when faced with "content industry representatives" at hearings. This group is asking people to donate money to buy your senator an iPod. From their site:

Plus, we're going to pre-load each one with examples of the cultural richness made possible by sharing and collaboration - public domain content, Creative Commons content, and audio messages about the importance of balanced copyright policy. It will be engraved with the words "listen to the people." And it will arrive at each Senator's campaign office with a letter of explanation and a list of all the people who helped pay for it.

Interesting idea.

SharkJumper